Coin selector



JUIY 22, 1941 B.' E. MILLS 2,250,048

com SELECTOR Filed Oct. l, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 22,1941. B. E. MILLS 2,250,048

COIN SELECTOR Filed om. 1, 1937 2 sheets-sheet 2 fide/dbf;

JZ 7 @fr im Patented July 22, 1941 Unirse STATES "PATENT oir-Fics Bert n. Mills, oak Bark, Ill., assigner to Mills Noveltyl'Compan Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Applicationctober 1, 1937, Serial No. 165,764

(o1. rtl4- 160) `3"Claims.

This invention 'relates to coin-selecting devices of the type adapted to 'test the 'material of the coin and to reject all'coins andslugs except those of =the 'proper material, Vthe device providing for separation of the coins by the combined 'actons of a ieldof magneticilux intersectingithetrajecftory'of an inserted coin anda member adapted tocause rebound of such coin. v

While the use `of the magnetic lield and an anvil against which the coin may rebound i'snot new in the coin-selection art, the preseht invention improves upon prior devices Yof this kind by employing instead of 'the conventional rebound anvil with flat face,'a`membe'r which constituftes a combination of a rebound member and asepa'rating barrier, and which presents -a surface of'such character for contact by the coin that 5a "very slight deviation in the angle of approach -or point of contact of the coin with said fmeinbertv'ill fresult in a relatively great divergence in the trajectory 4of the coin after leaving the rebound member. (In using the term reboundmeinben herein, it Will be understood I am referring atall timesto a device having `the 'combined functions of arebound anvil and a separating fbarrier, the Jshorter term being 'used for Vthe isake di convenience.)

The invention has asoneo' its 'objects fto provide `a `selector which Will efficiently select silver coins from all other coins and slugs. this result With certainty constitutes a problem in fvieW of the fact that the electrical conductivity -of silver and copper are so nearly the same that passing them through a magnetic 'neld produces only a slight divergence between Vtheir 'trajectories. Accordingly itis obvious that "while it is not difcult to separate copper and silver "coins from nickels in a nickel selecting chute, it 'is 'a distinctly difficult problem to separate copper slugs from silver coins in a lsilver selecting coin chute, where the slugs are the saine vsize as the coins. l

The present invention lmakes use, however, of the slight divergence which itis possible to 'create `by passing silver and copper coins of identical size through a magnetic eld, and eiiiciently separates such coins by greatly amplifying such divergence las the coins pass from the rebound member.

This is accomplished by employing "a rebound member presenting a rounded surface vfor `con-- tact by the coins after they have Abeen slightly diverged by passing through the magnetic held, 4the said "surface being `curved on a relatively -small radius and being positioned relative 4to the 'respective coin trajectories so 'that one of the To attain coins will strike `the rebound member almost on center but slightly to one 'side tthereof and thence will rebound a substantial distance to that side, while the other will strike said rounded Lsurface glancingly, 'because its point of contact is 'further offset on lthat side, and will merely be deected slightly "to that side and thereby deiinitely separatedfrorn thev squarely `bouncing coins. Coins and `'slugs of low conductivity, such as nickel, brass, lead, fete., will "have suiiicient divergence from 'the trajectories of the "copper and silver coins so that theywille'ither Contact the rebound member on itsoth'er side, or completeiy'clear said other side. i

'Another @and importantobject of thefinvention is to provide simple and effective means for iadinsti-ng 4the relative position of the magnets employed for 'creating the field of magnetic flux through which the coins pass, thereby providing ior accurate 'control 'of the trajectories ofthe coins andrslugs under varying conditions arf-eeting the device. l

Other objects *of the invention will become apparent fro'm the following-detailed description of the 'invention when considered in "connectkm Lwith the'accomp'anying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is fa viront elevation of a selector embodying Vthe invention;

EFigure 2 is a vertical, transverse, l'sectional view ofthe same, taken on 4the line 2-2 of. Figure l;

Figure 3 is fa view similar 'to Figure '1, parts vbeing removed 'Tand shown in section lto 'illustrate the .interior construction;

Figure u4 is `a horizontal, transverse, `sectional view, taken on'theline ll-'-1l'of Figure 3;

Figure 5^is a detailed sectional view, taken Von the'line 5-'5 of Figure-1;

'Figure '6 is :a detailed sectional view, 'taken Von fthe line'G-G'of Figure -1; and

Figure 'l `is a crossesectional `View through a modied 4iform of the'rebound member.

A typical coin selector constructed in accord'- ance 'with this iriventioncomprises a base plate 'Ill 'which carries `the various members iorming -ai-tortuous series of passages through which the coins travel. From the 'lower end cian *inlet #passage ll, a lpassage I2 `extends 'laterally and downwardly; In the `passage 12, undersized :and -ferro'us coinsland slugs are`eliminated, as will be more fully set forth hereinafter. From 'th'e lower end *of a block 13,'orming `the bottom of A'the passage I2,- no'n-ferrous kcoins of rproper "size, 'indicated at C, 'will jump across the gap forming the inlet fof 'scavenger passage I4 following V.the trajectory indicated by broken line I5, and Will bounce from dividing barrier I6, following trajectory I1, into passage I8 extending downwardly.

Rotating in clockwise direction, as a result of rolling down the upper edge of block I3, the coin will strike the upper edge of block I9, forming the bottom of a delivery passage 20, and as a resul-t of such rotation will tend to roll uphill on the block I9, but will be stopped by a flange 2I which forms the outer side of passage I8. From this momentarily still position, the coin will commence to roll down the inclined delivery passage 20. In order to secure this result,V the passages I8 and 20 form a return bend with respect to the passage I2.

At the lower end of the delivery passage 28, the coin rolls through a field of magnetic flux created between the opposed poles of horseshoe magnets 2I mounted on either side of the passage. Immediately thereafter, the coins will jump from the end 22 of the block I9 and will thence follow trajectories which diverge as a result of the varying effect of passage through said field.

As the coins pass through the magnetic eld, those of nickel, brass, lead, and other material of low conductivity will be relatively unaected thereby -and will consequently follow trajectories indicated by the broken lines l23 and 23a. In doing so, they will either completely clearV or will glancingly contact the far side of a rebound member 24, thence passing out of the selector through a discharge outlet 25. Coins of silver will be retarded by the resistance caused by eddy currents created within the coins by the cutting of Vthemagnetic lines of force, and will consequently follow a much shorter trajectory, as indicated by the broken line 26. The rebound member 24 is positioned so that these coins will contact said member almost on top center, but slightly to the near side thereofk (i. e., the side toward the line of approach of the coins).

The silver coins thus striking the rebound member squarely will rebound in a trajectory indicated by the broken line 21 to a distance sui- Y ciently removed horizontally from the member 24 so that such coins will pass over a barrier 28 and out through a discharge passage 29 defined by the barrierA 28 on one side and a bar 63 on the other. These coins are indicated in dotted lines by the reference numeral B3.

Copper coins, having even greater conductivity than silver, will be retarded even more than the silver coins by the action of the magnetic field, following a trajectory indicated by the broken line 30. Since the difference between the retardation of these coins and that of silver is very slight, these coins will strike the rebound member very close to the point of contact of the silver coins, but slightly more to the near side of the rebound member than that of the silver coin-s.

l Owing to the curvature of the rebound member,.this slight divergence between the points ofcontact will allow the copper coins to glance away from the rebound member on a trajectoryY 3| which is sufficiently divergent from the trajectory 21 so that ther copper coins may pass through an intermediate outlet 32 located between the outlet 29 and the rebound member 24. The rebound member 24 may be either in the formof a rigid pin mounted in the plate I0, as shown in Figure 3, or it may be a block 24a having a rounded upper edge 24b,'as shown in Figure 7.

The inlet passage II is formed between a thin, spring-metal, rear plate 33 (Figures 1 and 2), a pair of spaced side bars 34 (Figure 3), and a front plate 35 to which is secured the scavenger gate 36. Said plates are normally positioned to dispose the inlet passage II in the plane of the upper lateral coin passage I2 (Figure 1), being held in this position by means of cams 31 formed on'a shaft 38 which is journaled in brackets 39 secured to the plate I8. The plates 33 and 35 are attached at their upper ends by means of a clamping strip 40 and screws 4I, to a bracket 42 (Figure 2), forming an upward continuation of the plate I8. Both plates are formed so as to tend to spring outwardly away from the plate I0. When a scavenger control lever 43 is moved upwardly, rotating the shaft 38 against the pull of a spring 44, the plates 33 and 35 will swing outwardly away from` the plate I 0, the rear plate 33 sweeping from the upper edge of the block I3, any ferrous slugs which may have been arrested by a horseshoe magnet 45 mounted on the rear side of the plate III behind the passage I2.

Likewise, the rear plate 33 will sweep from the passage I2 any bent coins or slugs which have otherwise become lodged in the passages II or I S. The forward plate 35, at its outer limit of movement, will separate slightly from the plate 33, the latter being detained by engaging a stop 46 on ythe block I3.

Coins and slugs thus released will fall, as indicated by broken line 65, into a scavenger chute 41, the outer wall of which is flared outwardly at the top beyond the plane of the passages II and I2, the scavenger passage I4 being a continuation of said chute. The bottom of the passage I4 is formed by a block 48 secured to `the plate I0 by means of screws 43.

Those ferrous coins which have been merely slowed down by the magnet 45, and pass beyond the end of the block I3, may enter the scavenger passage I4 at its upper end communicating with passage I2. YThe scavenger passage I4 and chute 41 communicate with a vertical scavenger passage 58, formed between a depending leg 5I of the scavenger chute 41, the plate I0, the end of the block 48, and a flange 52 of the leg 5I.

The small coin-eliminating device comprises a gate member 83, having a bell crank arm 8| pivoted at 82 on the plate I3, and a pawl'83 pivoted at 84 on the end of the arm 8| and normally hanging over a notch in the scavenger gate 36 so that'as the gate 8B is swung forwardly by an undersized coin clearing the pawl 83, said pawl will engage and lock in the notch 85 before the coin has cleared the gate 80, whereupon the coin will be restrained from further movement. A proper-sized coin, however, will engage the pawl 83 and swing it laterally suiciently to clear the notch 85 and the end of the scavenger gate 36 so that the gate 83 may swing clear of the coin.

The passage I8 is formed between the block I 8l, the block I9, the plate I8, and' a cover member 56 secured at 54 to the plate I8 and at 55 to the block I9. The lower portion 53 of the cover 56 cooperates with the blocks IS, I9, and 48 and the plate I3 to form the passage 23.

The magnets 2l are encased in non-magnetic casings 51 having flanges 58 which are secured by screws 59 threaded into the block 48. 'I'he plate Il) is provided with an opening 6G to receive the flange 58 of vone of the casings 51.

yThe screws 59 (Figure 5) pass freely through openings`59' in the flange 58 of one of the casings 51, and said casing is urged towardv the block 48 by coil springs 6l encircling the shanks of the screws 5S and compressed between the heads thereof and said flange 58.

This yielding connection allows one magnet 2| to be adjusted relative to the plate I and to the other magnet so as to vary the intensity of the magnetic ux. The adjustment of this magnet is effected by means of an adjusting screw E2 (Figure 6), which is threaded through the flange S and engages against the block 48. The other horseshoe magnet is permanently positioned by the engagement of the flange 58 of its casing by the threaded ends of the screws 59. By means of this adjustment, the trajectories of the coins and slugs can be accurately controlled and any loss in intensity in the eld of magnetic flux can be readily compensated for simply by the adjusting screw.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom, but the appended claims should be construed as broadly as permissible in View of the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a coin selector, means, including a vertical wall, forming a passage for coins, a magnet disposed outside said wall with its poles arranged adjacent to said passage, resilient means acting on the magnet for urging the poles thereof toward said passage, and adjustable means reacting on a xed abutment for moving said magnet against the force exerted by said resilient means to vary CII the effect of the magnet poles upon coins travelling through said passage. n

2. In a coin selector, means, including a vertical wall, forming a passage for coins,l a magnet disposed outside said wall with its poles arranged in association with said passage, means attaching one side of said magnet to said wall so as to allow tilting movement of the magnet around an axis parallel to the wall, means attaching an opposite side of the magnet to and resiliently urging it toward the wall, and a set screw threadedly connected to the magnet and abutting the wall adjacent said resilient attaching means, for adjusting the poles of the magnet toward and away from said passage.

3. In a coin selector, means, including a vertical wall, forming a passage for coins, a magnet mounted on one side of said passage, means supporting said magnet for tiltable movement around an axis parallel with said wall so as to allow adjustment of the magnet poles toward and away from said passage, an adjusting screw operative upon said magnet whereby said magnet may be positioned with its poles at a greater or less distance from said passage to vary the magnetic flux acting upon coins travelling through said passage, and means resiliently urging said magnet toward said passage and opposing the action of the adjusting screw, said screw, when in any adjusted position, holding the poles of said magnet positively against movement toward coins in said passage.

BERT E. MILLS. 

